It was an attack on India’s democratic tradition but we need not cry while remembering emergency. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will attend the Loktantra Prahari Abhinandan at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi tomorrow is being organized on the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan.
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Recalling the Emergency days, Mr. Modi said the disobedience to the measure imposed by Indira Gandhi had given birth to a new generation of politicians.
Senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani and Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal also participated in the felicitation programme “Loktantra Ke Prahari” in which the Prime Minister felicitated those who fought against Emergency and went to jail.
In his address, Advani said the focus after Independence was not just on freedom from colonialism but also on strengthening democratic framework, while Badal said JP was one who thought of integrating and developing villages. He lived for the truth & what he felt was right.
Observing that the struggle by Jayaprakash Narayan for democracy should be taken as a benchmark, he said his speeches reflected the “deep anguish” of the people who suffered during Emergency.
So many people in politics today owe their initial days to those days of Emergency, JP Movement. “But sometimes, such emergencies give birth to good deeds; Jayaprakash movement, Navnirman movement paved way to a new kind of politics”, he added. “We must remember Emergency and recognise the power of democracy… make future generations aware of it. It is the demand of the times”, he said. “Nobody had an idea of what was happening, but see the strength of the people and their respect for democracy”.
Modi said that J.P. had the capacity to get a few positivity out of the Emergency. He praised Nanaji for bearing the bullet on his body which could lead to JP Narayan’s death.
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On birth anniversary of Loknayak JP, PM met former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Union Minister George Fernandes too.
